PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/WellEngineering Fundamentals Topic 11: Gas Laws

Topic 11: Gas Laws

Review

This section is intended for use by students to acquire a good knowledge of

compressible gas behaviour and computation of its properties.

Content
Gas Law

For a compressible system such as Natural Gas or Air, the gas law defines its general
behaviour. The gas law is shown here as Equation 1.
pV = znR o T

p = Pressure
V = Volume
Equation 1. R 0 = Universal gas constant
z = Compresibi lity factor
n = Number of moles = w
MW
MW = Molecular weight

The gas law is however often modified, and shown here as Equation 2.
pv = zRT

Equation 2.
v=V
w
R = Gas constant
The compressibility factor (z) is unique to each gas system. Natural gas is a combination
of different gases. Therefore an average compressibility factor is often calculated, using
the average molecular weight of the gas. This averaging is done using Equations 3–5,
depending on what variables are known concerning the gas(es) in question.
Ro
R=
MW
Equation 3.
MW = Average molecular weight
of natural gas

w
n=
MW
Equation 4.
w = Weight of gas

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/WellEngineering Fundamentals Topic 11: Gas Laws

V
v=
w
Equation 5.
V = Total volume
v = Specific volume

If the average molecular weight of a gas mixture is required, Equation 6 can be used.
MW = ∑ x MW
i i

Equation 6. MW = Average molecular weight

x i = Mole fraction of each gas component
MWi = Molecular weight of each gas component

Charles’ Law

The modified gas equation (2) can be rearranged to give Charles’ Law as shown in
Equation 7 below.
P1 V1 P2 V2 P3 V3
Equation 7. = = .....etc
z1T1 z 2 T2 z 3 T3

If, however, temperature was a constant, then Equation 7 would appear as Equation 8
as z is already a constant.
Equation 8. P1V1 = P2 V2 = P3 V3

Equation 8 is also known as Boyle’s Law.

Determining Compressibility Factor

As natural gas has a complex composition, the determination of the compressibility

factor (z) is slightly more complex. The theory of corresponding states and the terms
Pseudoreduced Pressure and Pseudoreduced Temperature must be introduced. The
theory of corresponding states can then be adopted.
The theory of corresponding states: the ratio of volume of a substance to its volume at
critical point is the same for all substances.

Therefore the term Pseudoreduced is introduced as it brings all the gases measured in a
complex mixture together in order that they can be analysed. The Pseudoreduced
figure is determined using Equation 9.
P
PR =
Pc

Equation 9. PR = Pseudoredu ced pressure

P = Operating pressure of specific gas
Pc = Critical pressure of specific gas

The Pseudoreduced Temperature is determined using the same equation (substituting P

for T), and the critical pressure/temperature is usually an average determined using
Equation 10.

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/WellEngineering Fundamentals Topic 11: Gas Laws

Equation 10. Pc = ∑x Pi ci

Once the average critical pressure and critical temperature have been determined, the
compressibility (z) factor can be determined (Figure 1).

Determination of Density

If the actual volume, pressure, temperature, compressibility and mass of a gas are
known, then the density of the system can be determined using Equation 11.
P
= zRT
ρ

Equation 11. m
ρ=
V
Ro
∴ P = ρz T = ρzRT
MW

Determination of Specific Gravity

To determine the specific gravity of a gas, the densities of the gas and air need to be
known. The calculation is shown in Equation 12.
ρ gas
Equation 12. specific gravity =
ρ air

Students must understand and see the key linkages; they must understand what fluids
are and that when a fluid moves it does so due to energy.

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/WellEngineering Fundamentals Topic 11: Gas Laws

Figure 1. Determination of Compressibility Factor (z)

Compressibility of natural gases as a function of reduced pressure and temperature

Source: Standing & Katz, Courtesy AIME

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